


Theater of War

by osheamobile



Series: Theater of War (Old) [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Semi-Compliant, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Exploration of Themes and Characters from External Perspectives, Fun With Genjutsu, Gen, Gift Fic, Original Character(s), old shame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-25
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 07:47:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5489300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osheamobile/pseuds/osheamobile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Uzumaki Naruto's excursion away from Konoha, life continues to go on. But when the alliance between the Leaf and the Sand is strained, an Intelligence-trained team is dispatched to settle things.</p>
<p>Written for friends about seven years ago. Unfinished and unlikely to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This was a story I wrote for friends about seven years ago, and as such, is rough and unfinished. I stopped writing this when I realized I had let myself spread too thin, and canon had progressed in ways that made many parts of this invalid.
> 
> I'm collecting this here anyway, because I'm still fairly proud of it, and I'm likely to rewrite it sometime soon.
> 
> Don't expect anything fantastic, and don't expect me to continue, but please enjoy what I had. Don't quibble about the things I got wrong, because time makes fools of us all.

**Chapter One**  
In which Hiroshi snarks at his mother, the characters are introduced, and the author forces himself to actually set up a scene before jumping right to the fun parts.  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
There were dangers in the forest, everyone knew. That was why civilians were discouraged from straying off the roads; get too deep into the forest proper, and bad things could happen.  
  
The roads weren’t paved, though – just dirt beaten down by constant use by both feet and carts. It was smooth enough for a cart to travel without _too_ many bumps, but definitely too rough for wheeled vehicles to go down at full tilt – any cart trying to go much faster than, say, a healthy trot would need a very good shock absorbing design, or it would shake itself apart.  
  
A merchant’s cart was making its way down the road to the village, and the driver obviously was familiar with the trip; the horse was walking along at a decent but leisurely pace.  
  
A twig snapped, causing the horse to pause and look around uncertainly. He made a nervous sound, and scuffed his hooves on the dirt path.  
  
His rider patted his neck soothingly. "It’s all right," said the woman. "We’re going home. Home, remember?"  
  
The horse calmed slightly – enough to continue along the path through the forest. The woman sank back into the saddle, and started to reach back into the cart—  
  
"That’s far enough," a rough voice whispered, directly behind her. She felt the prick of a knife pressing against the back of her neck. "What is your name?"  
  
"Misato," whispered the woman, carefully. She stared straight ahead, resisting the urge to spin around to see who was threatening her.  
  
"I’m going to get myself comfortable in your cart, Misato, do you understand? Just nod."  
  
Misato nodded quickly.  
  
"Good," said the voice. "You’re not going to see me, even if you try to look. I’ll be well hidden. And when you get into the village, you’re going to pretend like everything is normal, do you understand? Just nod."  
  
Misato nodded again, swallowing quickly. She realized that there was absolutely no way she could act cool when passing the guards. When the cart reached the gate, she figured, they would find the man and the worst that would happen to her was the confiscation of the cart.  
  
The prick of the knife left her skin, and she counted to ten before turning around. As promised, the cart appeared precisely as it always did.  
  
"Let’s...let’s go home, Kadan," she said to the horse, as calmly as she could.  
  
\-----  
  
Kadan stopped again, pawing at the ground. Misato tensed; were the guards coming to _her_? Would the man get desperate and take her hostage?  
  
A figure dropped out of the trees in front of the horse. She flinched in terror, before looking closely at the face. "Hiroshi, don’t _do_ that!" she snapped.  
  
The young man in front of her scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I’m sorry, ma."  
  
"You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days," said Misato, glaring.  
  
"Yes, ma," said Hiroshi, stepping forward. "I just missed you so much that I thought I’d come meet you." He walked around to the edge of the cart and peered inside. "Ooh, you sold those tents in Kimura? I thought they were all into that whole modern 'self-setup' crap over there." He reached in and pulled out an apple. "Looks like that village has at least _some_ taste."  
  
The woman paled as she watched her son pull out three more apples. What if—  
  
"Are your friends with you?" she asked, as casually as she could.  
  
Hiroshi shook his head. "They stayed behind." He put three of the apples in the pack slung across his shoulder, and dropped it on the ground. Leaning against the cart, he took a large bite of the fourth apple. "Was there any trouble on the way back?" he asked.  
  
His mother shook her head as much as she dared. Any minute now, the man inside would panic…  
  
"Really?" said Hiroshi. "Glad to hear it. Let me just get rid of some of this trash, then." He jumped on top of the cart and drew a kunai out of its belt sheath. He wrenched back the front seat of the cart and deflected the immediate strike from underneath.  
  
A black blur leapt from the cart and disappeared in the trees. Hiroshi grinned at his mother, stuck two fingers in his mouth, and whistled as loud as he could. There was a loud, meaty _thud_ and the black object fell hard onto the ground.  
  
"Sound ninja, huh?" said Hiroshi, twirling his kunai. "Didn’t think they’d try sneaking into Konoha from this direction."  
  
A blond girl leapt down from the trees, massaging her knuckles. Misato recognized her; Sonozaki Hotaru, one of her son's friends and teammates. He wasn't as alone as he had initially claimed, she realized, breathing a bit easier.  
  
Hotaru nodded politely to Misato, causing her blond hair to fall in front of her face. She flipped her ponytail back behind her, and dropped into a ready stance as the black-clad figure regained its footing.  
  
Hiroshi closed his eyes in concentration and formed a few quick hand seals. He slammed his hands onto the dirt road, grinning in triumph as brown tendrils of mud snaked their way up the figure’s legs.  
  
Hotaru charged at the struggling Sound ninja, lashing out with her empty fists. He countered as best as he could, but with his legs trapped in the ground, he couldn’t dodge her strikes as well as he wanted to. Each blow he didn’t intercept slowed him down even further, until she finally scored a stiffened finger strike to the throat.  
  
Hiroshi lifted his hands from the road, and the mud fell away. The stunned ninja collapsed to the ground, clutching his throat.  
  
Misato glanced between her son and the girl, then settled her gaze on the man writhing on the ground. "Is he going to die?" she asked.  
  
Hotaru shook her head. "He’ll be able to breathe in a second. We'll need to tie him up so that he doesn't escape." She reached into her backpack, pulled out a length of rope, and started restraining the ninja’s hands and feet.  
  
Hiroshi’s grin faltered as his mother glared at him. "What?" he asked, defensively. "Did you think I was going to let him terrorize Kadan all the way to Konoha?"  
  
She continued to glare.  
  
"And you, of course, dearest mother."  
  
Glare.  
  
"You were completely safe the entire time! Kensuke is up there with his freaky gizmo—"  
  
A disgruntled "I heard that!" echoed through the trees.  
  
"—and Gendou-sensei is around somewhere, too. Everything is fine."  
  
Hiroshi’s mother sighed, and looked around. "I know. It’s just...it’s getting dangerous, isn’t it?"  
  
Hiroshi nodded solemnly. "That’s what I keep saying, but _no_ , you _have_ to make the trip to the capital every season to the retail convention." He sighed as he threw up his hands in exasperation. "It's not like you can't just order from the catalogs."  
  
A deep and cultured voice filtered through the trees. "I am sure your mother understands the need for safety, Hiroshi. She has her responsibilities, just as we have ours."  
  
The shadows parted, revealing a tall man outfitted in all black Jounin gear. He walked up to the struggling Sound ninja and lifted his dark glasses. His one red eye examined the knots, and he nodded curtly in approval.  
  
"My apologies for the deception, Moriyama-san," he said, bowing politely to Hiroshi’s mother.  
  
Misato smiled weakly. "It’s fine, really," she said. "No real harm done, right?"  
  
The blond girl stood up, hoisting the Sound ninja up onto his feet. "Would you like us to escort you to Konoha, Misato-san?"  
  
"Thank you, Hotaru," Misato replied. "I would feel safer if you did."  
  
Hotaru nodded, dragging the ninja to the cart. "What were you talking about back there, about them not attacking this road?" she asked Hiroshi, keeping her eyes on the figure. "Otokagure is this direction."  
  
"Yeah, but you’d think they’d know we’d expect an assault from this direction," Hiroshi replied, hopping onto one of the few seats on the cart. "If they were smart, they'd circle around and strike at the far road."  
  
Hotaru frowned. "But Konoha would be expecting them to do that, you'd think. Wouldn't they figure most of our defenses would be focused on that road? Which means that their best route would be the most direct."  
  
"Reverse psychology, huh? Well then, couldn't you take it another step further and say they'd know we'd expect them to double back to the more direct route, and keep the bulk of our defenses there?"  
  
"This is making my head hurt..."  
  
After pausing to collect Kensuke – who was still fiddling with latches on some strange contraption – and his dog, the cart and its escort continued along the road through the forest. The trussed-up Oto-nin was still struggling, propped up in the pile of designer rugs in the back.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiroshi grinned as he scanned the rooftops. Every so often, he'd catch a flicker of motion, trailing them through Konoha. He shook his head, turning his attention back on their destination.  
  
His mother's merchandise cart was no longer being used to carry the struggling Sound spy. They had escorted Misato to her shop, helped her unpack the cart, and carried the bound ninja bodily through the streets towards the administration building. Since then, Hiroshi had noticed a pair of ANBU watching over them, making sure their deposit in the dungeons was made successfully.  
  
Konoha's administrative building was set against the cliff wall, directly underneath the Hokage memorial. It was symbolic, how the faces of five of Konoha's leaders watched over the entire village from high above while the clockwork of the village ran underneath. Mission assignment was handled from the building, as were Council meetings and private ceremonies. The Hokage's offices were there as well, and the Hokage's personal scroll library.  
  
Interrogation had offices there, as well.  
  
The Hokage's office was being guarded by a pair of administrative chuunin, who nodded to the four Konoha nin as they approached. "Kurohisa-san," greeted one of them, "the Hokage is expecting your team in her office."  
  
Gendou nodded in return. "I will bring _this_ \--" he indicated the spy being carried by his team "--to Ibiki. Meet me upstairs."  
  
Hotaru bowed. "Yes, sensei." She and Hiroshi dropped the Sound nin unceremoniously on the ground, and the three of them headed upstairs. They heard Gendou dragging the body across the marble floor to the stairwell.  
  
Hiroshi motioned for his teammates to stop and held a hand to his ear theatrically. They waited until they could hear the rhythmic thumping that sounded very suspiciously like a skull bouncing off of concrete as its body was dragged down a flight of stairs.  
  
\-----  
  
Tsunade looked up from the papers on her desk. "And there was just the one of them?"  
  
"He was definitely alone, Hokage-sama," said Kensuke. He tapped the side of his nose and grinned. "Hayate and I made certain of that." The Inuzuka absent-mindedly scratched behind his dog's ear.  
  
"This whole situation worries me," said Tsunade, frowning. She looked up at a swirl of shadow that suddenly appeared behind the three chuunin. "Gendou-san, what are your thoughts?"  
  
Gendou raised a hand to adjust his dark glasses. "Otogakure has been performing very poor infiltrations, but they do appear to be strengthening somewhat. This latest spy may in fact have reached the outer gate to the village, were we not already on border patrol."  
  
Tsunade looked at him sharply. "I hope you realize just what're implying by that."  
  
Gendou bowed his head slightly. "It is too soon to jump to conclusions, but I have concerns that they are using Konoha to cull the weak from their forces. Whatever we do, we would be strengthening Orochimaru considerably."  
  
"We can't just welcome them with open arms," snapped Tsunade.  
  
"I apologize, Hokage-sama." Gendou appeared to be frowning beneath his tattered scarf. "I do not have any proposals to remedy the issue at this time. However, we shall soon know if there is any immediate action we must take against the Sound."  
  
Tsunade nodded. "I'll send for you as soon as we can get information out of our friend here." She glanced at Hiroshi. "Tell your mother I apologize for what happened earlier."  
  
Hiroshi bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."  
  
"Yeah, sure. In any case, your team will get the first assignment that comes from this." The Fifth Hokage smiled nastily. "It's about time we stopped wasting your talents." She waved her hand lazily, gesturing that the team was dismissed. They bowed respectfully one last time and filed out.  
  
"Neh, sensei, what does she mean about 'wasting our talents'?" asked Kensuke, raising his smoked glasses. "I was enjoying border patrol. Nice and easy, and we can stay near home."  
  
Gendou remained silent for a moment. "The Fifth seems to think that the latest spies are related to some major action Otokagure is planning. If her suspicions are confirmed, we may be allowed to take a more aggressive stance."  
  
Kensuke scratched his coarse grey hair. "You mean we can attack them for once?"  
  
Hotaru shifted uneasily. "We'll find out soon, won't we?" She stretched and smoothed out the roughened portions of her dress. "Anyway, you feel like dinner? There's that new okonomiyaki place down the street from the Ichiraku."  
  
Hiroshi raised his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, Hotaru, but I promised I'd stop back at my parent's place for dinner tonight. They're celebrating my sister's graduation from the Academy. Rain check?"  
  
Hotaru nodded. "Kensuke-kun? Gendou-sensei?"  
  
Gendou shook his head. "I must return to Interrogation. I thought I would lend Ibiki a hand with our new friend." He disappeared in a swirl of shadow.  
  
Hotaru sighed. "Guess it's just you and me, Kensuke-kun." She snickered at the Inuzuka's flustered expression and winked at Hiroshi. "Tell Yukiko-chan I said congratulations!"  
  
Hiroshi grinned. "Of course." He waved jauntily and disappeared up on the rooftops.  
  
\-----  
  
The Moriyama household was a bustle of activity. Friends and family had gathered to congratulate Yukiko in her new hitai-ate, which she wore proudly (and a bit awkwardly) on her forehead. Her pigtails seemed to bounce constantly as she bowed respectfully to everyone's congratulations.  
  
"Show me again, Niichan?" she asked, giving her brother her best puppy-eyes.  
  
Hiroshi sighed theatrically and carefully formed hand seals. He winked at her as the soupbowl in front of him started to rock and steam. The soup inside splashed about, and a small dragon seemed to burst from the surface. It had a noodle body, noodle whiskers, and fishcake eyes. Yukiko cheered it on as it performed a series of midair flips before it fell back down into the bowl.  
  
"Hiroshi, don't play with your food," Misato admonished. "You're going to make a mess."  
  
"But Mooooom, it's not _real_ ," Yukiko whined. "It's genjutsu, and he won't tell me how to do it."  
  
Hiroshi winked again. "I'll show you later. I don't want to tire you out before your new jounin-sensei has a chance to, you know."  
  
Yukiko crossed her arms petulantly. "Iruka-sensei wouldn't even tell us who it was going to be! He said it was a surprise."  
  
"Well, I know that Aburame Shibi is on the list for a genin team this year," said Hiroshi. "And Yamanaka Inoichi, and Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chouza. You might get one of those."  
  
"Why didn't he just _tell_ us?"  
  
Hiroshi shook his head in exasperation and returned to eating his dinner. "You can't expect to be told all the answers," he said, between mouthfuls. "That's what being a ninja means. You need to look beneath what's beneath."  
  
"Hmph."  
  
\-----  
  
The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. Yukiko was given gifts from all of the guests, including a new set of kunai, three sets of shuriken and a new holster, camping gear, flint and tinder, and various other tools of the shinobi trade. Her parents also presented her with a sword that Misato had traded for during her trip to Kimura. She pulled it out of its sheath immediately and stared at the edge.  
  
Hiroshi became very quiet when he saw the sword. He hadn't been given a weapon like that when he had graduated the Academy; in fact, his parents had never truly supported his decision to become a ninja until well after his first real mission. They hadn't been outwardly _against_ it, true, and they were as supportive as any parent could be, but things were always tense around the Moriyama household for a while afterward.   
  
They had come to terms with it when he ended up saving the family store in an attack, though. Afterward, there had been a very long discussion, and his parents became noticably more supportive of his chosen vocation.  
  
Giving their twelve-year-old daughter a lethal weapon, however, was a sign that they had finally abandoned their mistrust of shinobi, and fully accepted the fact that both of their children were now soldiers.  
  
A part of Hiroshi felt the pangs of jealousy. He suppressed those, however; this was a time to be happy, and his sister wouldn't appreciate him feeling bad at her party.  
  
"If you can manage to put that away without dismembering anyone," he said, grinning, "you can open my present next."  
  
Hiroshi was fairly proud of what he had been able to put together for his sister. Knowing that she would be receiving as much field gear as she could carry from her friends and family, he decided to put some of his best genjutsu in scrolls he had purchased. There would be a time, he figured, when the Moriyama family became a full-fledged ninja clan, and passing down skills was the best way to start it. He had included all of Yukiko's favorite illusions (all of which she had begged him to teach her), as well as some new ones he had developed based on the stories he would read her when she was younger.  
  
The look on her face as she opened the scrolls was priceless. She leaped at him in a full flying tackle-hug, and the two of them fell to the floor, laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

Kensuke yawned, barely noticing as Hayate followed suit. He and Hotaru had stayed up late the night previous at the new okonomiyaki shop. It was not a bad place at all, he realized, as he remembered the girl who ran it. She was an ex-genin who had decided to devote her time and effort into cooking, rather than killing.  
  
He hadn't said so out loud, but Ukyo's skill with her spatulas was something he normally only associated with a kunai.  
  
"Kensuke-kun?"  
  
He looked up into Hotaru's smiling face. He grinned at her. "Sorry, just thinking about last night."  
  
"Hmpf. And you didn't want to go in the first place."  
  
Kensuke held up his hands in protest. "Hey, I'm not normally a fan of street cuisine. I'm a home-cooked man, you know!" He grinned at Hotaru.  
  
Leaning against a street sign, Hiroshi chuckled. "What, did it turn into a date?"  
  
Hotaru reddened as Kensuke waved him off. "What, are you kidding?" snapped Kensuke, even as Hayate snuffed quietly in laughter. "No way!"  
  
His teammate continued to laugh. "Go on, protest some more, that'll really make her feel better."  
  
Kensuke spluttered, and Hayate's snuffling turned into an abrupt snort of amusement. The Inuzuka glared at his dog in mock-affront.  
  
"It wasn't a date, Hiroshi-kun," said Hotaru, adjusting the shoulder of her dress. "I asked if you wanted to come too, didn't I?" Her face settled into an evil grin. "Besides, with the way that Kensuke had been staring at Ukyo-san..."  
  
"I was hungry! She was making my food!"  
  
Hiroshi laughed. "I imagine her hands were a bit lower down." He tilted his head to allow the suddenly-thrown kunai to embed itself harmlessly into the signpost.  
  
Kensuke sulked as Hotaru giggled. "Knock it off, will you? Gendou-sensei will be here soon, and we'll be off for our next border patrol."  
  
"Yeah, I was kind of hoping we'd get a chance to stay in the village for a bit," said Hiroshi, grimacing. "Yukiko should be meeting her new Jounin-sensei about nowish, and I wanted to be around to hear all about it. I don't even know who she's going to be training under--"  
  
The sudden appearance of Gendou halted his words. "You need not worry about your sister," said the dark-clothed man, pushing up his sunglasses. "She has been assigned to Ren."  
  
Hiroshi raised his eyebrows at this news, while his teammates started grinning. They all knew Gendou's wife from their many years under his tutelage; she was an equally-accomplished jounin, albeit a bit more...specialized than her husband.  
  
"Did she say who else was on the team?" asked Hiroshi. He started adjusting his flak jacket as the team headed out into the forest surrounding Konoha.  
  
"She did not say," said Gendou, leaping into the trees. His team followed suit. "We must hurry. The team we are replacing is waiting for its chance to head home."  
  
With a chakra-enhanced leap, the Leaf ninja made their way through the forest.  
  
\-----  
  
This, decided Moriyama Yukiko, was decidedly not what she was expecting.  
  
When Iruka-sensei had announced what team she had been assigned to and introduced the three new genin to their new instructor, she had honestly been expecting one of the Leaf elite that Hiroshi had mentioned. Yamanaka Inoichi would have been interesting, with his mental jutsu, and Akimichi Chouza and Nara Shikaku each had their own qualities. She had been dreading the possibility of apprenticing under an Aburame, but even the bug-user had his strong points.  
  
This... _woman_ didn't look fit enough to be an active-duty ninja, let alone a Jounin-sensei. She had led them out onto a balcony overlooking the Hokage Monument; the five leaders of the Hidden Leaf looked down peacefully upon the genin.  
  
"All right, you little brats, sit down and tell me all about yourselves." The woman (their new sensei, Yukiko grumbled to herself) plopped down unceremoniously onto a bench. Her kimono - if you could even call it that; it had been been either heavily modified from an existing robe, or else it had been _purchased_ with the right sleeve missing, a decidedly unladylike neckline, and the left half of the skirt hemmed unevenly to expose the woman's thigh - parted, and Yukiko noted with disgust that her breasts were one step away from falling out completely.  
  
The three girls stared at their new sensei.  
  
"Oh, fine, I'll start. I am Kurobana Ren, a jounin specialist in poisons. I like drinking, karaoke, and spending time with my husband. I dislike many things that we won't go into now, for time." Ren paused, thoughtfully. "My dream is to spend the rest of my life here in Konoha. Now come on, brats, it's your turn."  
  
The dark-haired girl to Yukiko's left nodded gracefully. "I am Hyuuga Hanabi, heir to the Hyuuga clan. I enjoy the intricacies of my clan's special abilities and taijutsu forms." She glanced around quickly. "I dislike those unenlightened enough to doubt the Hyuuga bloodline. My ambition is to become Head of my clan." She fell silent and looked at Yukiko, expectantly.  
  
Yukiko hesitated. Compared to Hanabi, she wasn't much. "My name is Moriyama Yukiko. I like dango and sweet bean buns. I dislike--" She hesitated as the Hyuuga girl gave a derisive snort. "I dislike being treated as a lesser ninja simply because I do not come from a lineaged clan," she snapped, causing Hanabi to narrow her eyes. "My dream is to learn the jutsu my brother prepared for me." Yukiko patted the scroll-filled backpack for emphasis.  
  
She could tell that the Hyuuga was not impressed. That was fine, for all Yukiko cared; Hanabi was always the youngest in the class, being hailed as "The Hyuuga Genius". Her early graduation was proof of her ability, true, but her arrogance... Yukiko had always stayed away from Hanabi. It hadn't worked, it seemed.  
  
The last girl appeared to be trying to sink into the ground, with all three sets of eyes on her. She twirled a lock of reddish-brown hair around her finger, nervously.  
  
"Ano...I am Shirai Keiko..." She paused, glancing around. "I like stir-fry vegetables. I dislike meat. My dream is to learn the greatest recipes in the world."   
  
With that last proclamation, the girl's face turned serious. Yukiko clapped for her, while Hanabi snorted again.  
  
"Lovely," cooed Ren, standing up. She snapped open her parasol and spun it idly. "In that case, meet me in Training Area 32 tomorrow. Bring all of your gear."  
  
The woman formed a quick seal with her hands and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.  
  
Yukiko leaned over and lightly smacked Hanabi on the back of her head. "What the hell is your problem, Hyuuga?" she snapped.  
  
Hanabi's eyes widened in disbelief. "You...you would dare strike...?"  
  
"'Strike the heir of the Hyuuga'? Yeah, I really don't care about that." Yukiko pointed at the shivering Keiko, next to her. "Apologise."  
  
"I..." Hanabi shook her head slightly. When she spoke next, her voice was a lot stronger.  
  
"I have nothing to apologise for, Moriyama."  
  
"Yeah? Well, I think you need to grow up. Not everything is about the 'all-powerful Hyuuga', you know."  
  
Hanabi folded her arms as she stood up. "I have nothing further to say to you. Good day."  
  
"Bitch," grumbled Yukiko as Hanabi stalked off.  
  
She glanced back down at the shivering girl. "Are you all right, Keiko?"  
  
"She...should not mock me..." whispered Keiko.  
  
"I know, she's just being herself. I'm sure she doesn't mean to be cruel."  
  
Keiko shook her head. "I like cooking..."  
  
Yukiko sighed. "Yes, you're very good at it. Remember how much I liked the lunch you prepared for us today?"  
  
Keiko nodded.  
  
"It'll be fine. You'll just show Hanabi how good of a ninja you are, and then she won't have anything horrible to say to you." Yukiko stretched. "Come on, we should go home. We need to be prepared tomorrow."  
  
Keiko nodded again, more confidently. "Right!"  
  
\-----  
  
Hiroshi frowned as he followed Gendou through the trees. They were almost to the rendezvous point, but there was no sign of...wait...  
  
"There!" he shouted, pointing to a clearing. The remains of a camp were just barely visible, as if a team had almost completely removed all evidence they had been there.  
  
Gendou leapt down into the clearing, his chuunin following suit right behind him.  
  
There was no sign of the other team.  
  
"Maybe they went back to Konoha?" wondered Kensuke.  
  
Gendou held up a hand, motioning for silence. Hiroshi kept his hands ready, just in case something happened.  
  
"Konoha senpuu!"  
  
The team ducked out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by a green whirlwind.  
  
Hiroshi formed seals and slammed his hands into the ground. "Doton: Mud Ensnare!" His chakra guided tendrils of mud that burst out of the ground to trap the green blur. It wasn't enough to hold the figure, though, and the mud splattered against the ground.  
  
Hotaru raised her knives and met the blur head-on. The _clang_ of clashing steel rang throughout the forest.  
  
"Hotaru!" yelled Kensuke, drawing kunai from the inside of his trenchcoat. He threw them at the blur, which simply spun quickly and knocked them aside.  
  
Hiroshi groaned. There was only one way out of this mess. He performed the necessary seals for genjutsu, then touched his throat with his finger.  
  
"Lee-kun! Stop this at once!"  
  
The green blur froze in place, revealing a green-clad ninja with a distinctive bowl-cut. "Yosh, Gai-sensei! I have apprehended the intruders..."  
  
He looked around. "Gai-sensei?"  
  
Hiroshi grinned, keeping the finger to his throat. He took another breath.  
  
"Moriyama Hiroshi, what a clever use of that technique!" boomed the same voice, from the other end of the clearing. "Surely you have not lost the power of your youth!"  
  
Hotaru glanced over at Hiroshi. "You're getting really good at that," she whispered.  
  
"That one wasn't me," Hiroshi said, his face pale.  
  
A larger-version of the green-clad ninja appeared in the middle of the clearing in a swirl of leaves, striking what he probably thought was a dramatic pose.  
  
"Gai-sensei!"  
  
"You have done well, Lee-kun!" boomed Gai. The two rushed to embrace each other.  
  
"Gai-sensei!"  
  
"Lee-kun!"  
  
"Gai-sensei!"  
  
"Lee-kun!"  
  
Gendou pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I apologise for interrupting, Gai-san."  
  
"Just in time, too," whispered Kensuke. Hotaru hit him.  
  
Hiroshi glanced between the two. He knew them, of course; who in Konoha didn't by now?  
  
Maito Gai status within the village would surprise anyone who judged him purly on looks; he was Konohagakure's most prominent taijutsu specialist. He had mastered more styles than most ninja knew even _existed_. All of that skill, however, was hidden between a skintight green bodysuit and orange striped leg warmers. Hiroshi - and indeed, most of Konoha - secretly thanked whatever gods existed that Gai's uniform wasn't completely form-fitting. That, and his near-constant rants about the Power of Youthfulness and the Beautiful Green Beast (Hiroshi hoped that didn't refer to anything beneath the suit) would normally make him a laughingstock...were it not for his mission record.  
  
His favorite student, Rock Lee, was about the same. Everyone knew that Lee idolized his sensei, to the point of making himself _look_ the same. The bowl-cut, the bodysuit, the leg warmers. But the similarity didn't end there; out of Gai's students, only Lee was able to master Gai's most notable taijutsu style. He was also able to learn some of the more complex moves, including the forbidden Lotus-style.  
  
 _He's wearing a new chuunin's flak jacket_ , Hiroshi noted. _Must have been very recent. Lee-san was still a genin the last time I saw him._  
  
"Now that you have caught us, Gendou-san, would your team like to test the power of their youth against my team?" Gai gave Gendoua thumbs-up gesture and grinned; the light reflected off his teeth in a very disturbing way. "Now that my Lee-kun has successfully passed the most recent Exam, all three of my students are now full chuunin."  
  
"We are here to replace you in this duty, by command of the Hokage." Gendou produced a small red scroll from a pouch in his vest and tossed it to the other jounin.  
  
Gai opened the scroll. When he finished reading it, he gave Gendou another dramatic "nice guy" pose, which Gendou dutifully ignored. "You are correct, Gendou-san! We will gather the remainder of our team and report back to Konoha. I wish you luck in your patrols!"  
  
With another dramatic pose, Maito Gai and Rock Lee disappeared.  
  
Gendou sat down on the ground. "We will break camp here. Hotaru, find us firewood. Kensuke, Hayate, secure the perimeter. Hiroshi, I want you to draw up a patrol pattern for the next few days."  
  
The three chuunin nodded and got to work.


	4. Chapter 4

The floodplains of the River Country were generally peaceful. Most traffic between the Fire Country and the Wind Country went through the central cities, leaving the northern and southern ends of the country to the calm, quiet of nature.  
  
It was a true picture of serenity--  
  
" _Aiieee_! Kodachi-chan, give that back!"  
  
A picture of serenity--  
  
"Rena, you bitch, _let go of my arm_!"  
  
"It's mine! Give it _back_!"  
  
Serenity--  
  
"Aika, help!"  
  
"Oh, sure, go crying to Aika-chan like you always do."  
  
A pair of deep purple carraiges were being driven through the plains. Each was drawn by a trio of black horses. The lead carraige was filled with equipment and a few assistants.  
  
"Please keep it down," said a young woman. Her voice was almost silken, each syllable spoken with perfect precision and grace. "There have been reports of Akatsuki sightings in this region. I'd prefer if we didn't get noticed."  
  
The other two women fell silent, abashed. They rode the rest of the way in silence.  
  
" _Kyaaaa!_ That duck is so cute! I want to take it ho-ome!"  
  
Almost silence.  
  
  
\------------  
  
  
Yukiko cursed at herself as she hid in the trees. The entire team had underestimated their sensei - something that she knew that Hiroshi would mock her endlessly about. He was always needling her with that "underneath the underneath" stuff, and here was a perfect example of it.  
  
When the girls had met their jounin-sensei at the training area, they had been expecting a lesson. Teaching them new jutsu, new tactics, something along those lines. What they hadn't been expecting was to have to fight the woman.  
  
Ren-sensei had told them that she would only train them further if they could capture and subdue her. If they weren't strong enough to do that, she had said, they weren't worth training any further and would be sent back to the Academy. Hanabi had scoffed at that, but Yukiko and Keiko were definitely shaken up. It wasn't until Hanabi had rushed their teacher that they realized what had happened.  
  
Everything went wrong.  
  
Kurobana Ren, despite initial appearance, was _fast_. Hanabi hadn't been able to land a single _jyuuken_ strike on her, no matter where she aimed. Every time it looked like the Hyuuga had gotten close, the older woman was simply _somewhere else_. In fact, everything that Yukiko had assumed about the woman was inevitably proven to be wrong. The loose kimono served to her advantage when Hanabi's hand got tangled up in folds of cloth. Ren-sensei twirled the silk around Hanabi's wrist, then slipped out of the garment entirely and used it to throw the girl halfway across the clearing.  
  
In the absence of the kimono, the girls could plainly see a more standard black bodysuit, complete with reinforced armor plating, scroll and weapon pouches, and as more sharpened steel than any of the genin could imagine a person carrying easily. Over her upper body was a forest-green Konoha flak jacket, though slightly modified. Yukiko noted that it was a lot thinner, which probably helped it hide beneath the kimono.  
  
Ren disappeared in a swirl of leaves. With a chilling glare, Hanabi had stormed off to find their quarry.  
  
Keiko had disappeared as well. Yukiko didn't know where she went, but she did know that she was all alone now, with a dangerous enemy on the loose. So she did what she had learned in the Academy.  
  
She hid, kept mobile, and searched. It had taken her half an hour to find Ren-sensei again.  
  
Her teacher had replaced the kimono, and her parasol was open and resting on her shoulder. The light material of the umbrella cast a pleasant shade over Ren's face, and she appeared to be doing nothing more than enjoying the breeze.  
  
"Are you just going to sit there, Yukiko-chan?" said Ren in a singsong voice.  
  
Yukiko grimaced. Her teacher wasn't even looking in her direction.  
  
"Come and face me, if you think you can," Ren trilled, twirling her parasol. " _If_ you can. After all, if Hanabi-chan didn't stand a chance..."  
  
That did it.   
  
Yukiko leapt out of the tree, kunai at the ready.  
  
  
\------------  
  
  
Hotaru yawned as she scanned the treetops. There hadn't been any motion since the last ANBU patrol around the perimeter, and she hoped that they would shift campsites that night. There was still mud underneath her sleeping bag - a remnant of the storm from earlier in the week.  
  
"Hotaru, you may come down now," she heard her sensei call.  
  
She didn't bother to hide the grin as she leapt down from the tree. The clearing was just large enough to move around in, without being too spacious to be easily visible from a distance. That was why they had chosen it as a campsite in the first place; Gai's site was far too visible for Gendou's tastes.  
  
Her teacher adjusted his glasses as the rest of Hotaru's team appeared. "Excellent. While we are out here, I have a matter to discuss with you. Hokage-sama is preparing for the Jounin Selection, and she mentioned to me that you might be in consideration this year."  
  
"All right!" shouted Kensuke, earning a glare from Gendou. "What kind of exam do you think we'll be taking?"  
  
Gendou remained silent as Hiroshi frowned. Her teammate gave her a calculating glance.  
  
 _So Hiroshi noticed it too._ Hotaru knew that Gendou rarely misspoke. If he said something, that was precisely what he meant, and her sensei hadn't used the word "exam" at all.  
  
"Do you think we're ready to be Jounin?" asked Hiroshi.  
  
"With your current skills?" Gendou produced three small scrolls from the pockets of his vest. "All three of you have gravitated towards more specialized arts, but you have not neglected your broader training. Therefore, you have a multitude of tools at your disposal for a variety of situations. Each of you would make a fine jounin, in my opinion."  
  
The three chuunin grinned. This was high praise indeed.  
  
"However."  
  
The grins faded.  
  
"There are certain skills that most jounin have knowledge of, even if they are not physically able to perform them. I would like to teach you the first of them now, in the hope that this will...give you an edge, both in the field and on your official reports."  
  
Gendou removed his glasses. Three pairs of eyes met one sharp red and one milky white.  
  
"You know of the _kage bunshin_."  
  
The three nodded.  
  
"The standard _bunshin_ creates an illusory copy of the ninja," said Gendou, slipping into teacher-mode. "Strictly speaking, it is almost a genjutsu, rather than a traditional ninjutsu. It does not warp reality, nor does it have a lasting physical effect. The _kage bunshin_ is different; you are splitting your chakra and creating an actual physical body. As such, it is much harder to perform, and requires more effort. Typically, a ninja can create as many as five shadow clones with one application."  
  
Hotaru smiled again. It had been a while since Gendou had taught them anything new. She had missed the way he always discussed the theory behind a jutsu, instead of simply how to perform it; that way, they knew how to tweak certain aspects of it as they needed, instead of having to learn an entirely new technique.  
  
"The most practical use of this jutsu is in reconnaisance," continued Gendou. "Having a clone gather information allows for multi-tasking, as well as providing an extra layer of safety. If the clone is caught and destroyed, you are not the one killed.  
  
"Neh, Gendou-sensei," drawled Kensuke. "How about combat situations? Wouldn't it be useful to have an extra set of fists or feet?"  
  
"In some situations, yes. Giving yourself a diversion is always useful, and if you can decieve your opponent into attacking your clone, you will be free move into a flanking position." Gendou frowned. "However, this does prove to be draining, as you would be splitting your chakra between yourself and your clones. This means that you are not operating at full efficiency, and your reserves will be dangerously low after prolonged use."  
  
"What about the Uzumaki kid, though?" asked Kensuke.  
  
Hiroshi nodded. "He tends to use _kage bunshin_ a lot in combat situations. It often works out to his advantage."  
  
Gendou paused. "Uzumaki Naruto is an...anomoly," he admitted after a while. "He has been reported as having higher than jounin-average chakra capacity since leaving the Academy. Using the _kage bunshin_ in that matter is not a liability for him, nor is his use of the more advanced form: the _tajuu kage bunshin_."  
  
Hotaru blinked. Multiple shadow clones? Gendou had just said that the most that the average ninja could only create up to five...  
  
Her memory clicked right as Hiroshi's eyes narrowed in recognition. She remembered hearing about hundreds of Naruto's clones assaulting the traitor Mizuki. She had dismissed it as an exaggeration. Clearly, this was not the case.  
  
The three scrolls flew through the air at the chuunin. Each one was caught and opened.  
  
This was how he had always taught them, too. Both the practical application and the theory at the same time. Other jounin-sensei didn't bother with the theory, Hotaru had heard. Gendou, however, wanted them to truly learn. To look underneath the underneath, as it were.  
  
"I will now demonstrate." Gendou brought his hands together in the Ram seal. His students all felt his chakra flare as he whispered, " _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_."  
  
The chakra smoke dissipated quickly, revealing three of Kurohisa Gendou.  
  
"Practice for the rest of the day. I will test your accomplishment after the evening patrol."  
  
Hotaru nodded as she studied the text within the scroll. The path to jounin was ahead of her, after all. Giving it any less than her best would be shameful.  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
  
\------------  
  
  
 _What the hell?_  
  
Hanabi nearly missed the tree branch as she finished her jump. She reached out with her hand and steadied herself against the trunk, even as she prepared herself to leap away at a moment's notice.  
  
The clearing ahead of her captured her full attention. Her teacher and that loudmouthed Moriyama girl were exchanging blows.  
  
Hanabi narrowed her eyes. _Almost_ exchanging blows. Yukiko was having just as much trouble landing her attacks on their teacher as Hanabi herself had. Ren was doing nothing more than dodging her attacks, with that damnable smirk never once leaving her face.  
  
Something wasn't right, though. Yukiko had a kunai in her hand, and every so often, a sharp metallic ringing would sound throughout the clearing. As hard as she focused, she couldn't see anything more than Ren just dodging--  
  
\--wait. There, a brief shower of sparks, right as Yukiko's kunai made another swipe at the woman.  
  
" _Byakugan_ ," whispered Hanabi, activating her clan's bloodline. Her vision warped, changing her perception from a frontal cone to a sphere around her entire body.  
  
 _There!_  
  
Every time the kunai got close, Hanabi saw Ren pull at the handle of her parasol, revealing several inches of sharpened metal. She deflected the knife's strikes and replaced the handle, faster than the eye could see.  
  
Hanabi snorted smugly. Faster than the _average_ eye could see. The smile faded to a grimace as a wave of dizziness washed over her.  
  
The difference between the Byakugan and the Sharingan, her father had explained to her, was in its generality. The Byakugan stayed at the broader end of awareness, allowing the Hyuuga to allow her focus to be on everything within the sphere of vision. Everything was clarified for her, allowing her to keep track of all movement in the range. The shift from conical to sperical vision restricted the range, but broadened the scope to an almost infinite degree.  
  
The Hyuuga would always be superior to the Uchiha in that aspect, even if the accursed clan still existed.  
  
The drawback, however, meant that without the spacial awareness training, the Hyuuga would be overwhelmed with the amount of information streaming into her head. The Sharingan countered that weakness by remaining in the normal human field of vision. The Sharingan was, for all intents and purposes, a more specialized doujutsu. It recorded everything that the user saw, allowing it to be dissected and filed away for later use. More advanced users of the Sharingan had reported time seeming to slow down during battles, allowing for a greater reactive ability from the Uchiha involved.  
  
This did not happen with the Byakugan. The Hyuuga had to rely on their awareness training to handle the information bombarding their visual cortex.  
  
Hanabi was still working on this aspect. She shut her eyes and shut down her bloodline, but the damage had been done. She only lost her balance for a moment, but it was one moment too long.  
  
Yukiko sprang back from the fight as soon as she noticed the Hyuuga prodigy falling out of the tree behind her. "Hanabi! Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine," grunted Hanabi, squeezing her temples. "Give me a minute."  
  
Yukiko's eyes went wide as she looked back at where Ren was standing. "I don't think we have a minute..."  
  
"Pathetic," snarled Ren, all amusement having fled from her voice. "You don't get it, do you? You really don't understand."  
  
"Understand what?" shouted Yukiko, tightening her grip on her kunai.  
  
Ren snorted derisively. "All of this. Why you're even _here_! Hanabi came at me first, all by herself, because she thought she was worth three of you. Keiko ran away completely. And Yukiko hid in the bushes, waiting for an opportunity that would never come."  
  
Both of the girls clenched their fists.  
  
"You're three little girls, playing at being ninja. You don't know what it takes to defeat a stronger opponent." Ren flipped her hair back. "I had such high hopes for you, I really did. But not even the Hyuuga genius is worth my time."  
  
Hanabi activated her Byakugan and rose to her feet. "How dare you?"  
  
Yukiko grabbed her shoulders, holding her back.  
  
"Let me go, Moriyama!" snarled Hanabi.  
  
"You don't have to do this," whispered Yukiko, gesturing to Ren.  
  
Hanabi deactivated her Byakugan again, understanding. Her teammate's focus wasn't _on_ their teacher, it was just _behind_ her...  
  
Ren frowned, spinning around in time to see a red blur in the air. Keiko's arm was outstretched as she sailed towards the older woman, and clenched in her fists was...a frying pan?  
  
A loud, almost embarassing clang echoed through the forest.  
  
Ren had extended the handle of her parasol again, and the flat of the blade was struggling against Keiko's frying pan. It was _huge_ , Hanabi noted - where had the quiet girl been carrying it?  
  
"It's because we have to work together," said Keiko, with a confidence that Hanabi had not noticed before. The red-haired girl withdrew to where Yukiko and Hanabi were standing. "We three were put together because of our differences, in hopes that we would work past them. We must do this now!"  
  
Hanabi smiled, despite herself. Keiko had unwittingly reminded her of her favorite cousin. Neji-niisan was also very quiet most of the time - although his trademark stoicism wasn't anywhere close to Keiko's shyness. But hidden beneath the quiet exterior was a flair for melodrama.  
  
And the Moriyama girl, she seemed to adapt to anything. If she could combine that ability with her teammate's special techniques...  
  
Perhaps she was beginning to like this team after all.  
  
Ren slid the blade back into her parasol with an audible click. She turned to face her genin, and Hanabi could see plainly the smile on her face.  
  
"Now we're talking," she said, approvingly. "Come on, you still have to finish your mission."  
  
The girls grinned at each other, and - as one - charged.


	5. Chapter 5

Takashi tensed up as he neared the building. He was the only ninja that Suna sent in response; the rest of his team was tied up on border patrol on the Amegakure side.  
  
It wasn't as if the Kazekage didn't want to send more. When the raven arrived with the message, he had scoured the mission logs to see who was available for the duty. He had been prepared to accompany Takashi himself when his advisors pulled him aside and made some sort of argument against it.  
  
That, in and of itself, was a miracle. There was a time not too long ago that Temari and Kankuro lived in mortal terror of their younger brother. Now he valued their opinions and even allowed himself to be cowed by their frustrations.  
  
Takashi grimaced. He could see the damage to the outpost already. Scorch marks and rubble were all that remained of its western wall, and half the building had been reduced to the skeletal framework.  
  
He readied his axe as he quietly entered the outpost. He wished the Kazekage had come with him. Supernatural dread or not, the kid was _powerful_ , and probably would make mincemeat out of whatever had done this damage and decided to stick around to pick off unaware would-be rescuers.  
  
Takashi _really_ wished he hadn't thought that last part.  
  
He wasn't _too_ worried. The Kazekage had asked him personally, and he had said that he was very impressed with Takashi's abilities as a shinobi. This mission was practically tailored to someone of his caliber, and he knew that he was the best choice even if nobody else had been available to come with.  
  
All of this kept bouncing through his head as he stepped through the empty hallways.   
  
_Clink_.  
  
Takashi froze, tightening his grip on his axe. Not empty. The sound had come from the doorway just ahead, on the right of the hallway.  
  
He formed a few quick seals and leapt forward, weapon poised to decapitate any enemy found inside--  
  
\--and stopped as a pair of rats darted out the open window. The blinds snapped shut once more with an audible _clink_.  
  
Takashi sighed in relief, relaxing his stance and allowing his axe to lower. He glanced downwards to see what the rats had been doing.  
  
"Gods protect me..."  
  
Whoever had attacked the Suna outpost had been thorough. The remains of its staff were strewn haphazardly around the room; each killed, it appeared, by different means. One body had been brutally but efficiently hacked apart, probably by an axe, cleaver, or large machete. Another had extremely precise stab wounds to the heart, lungs, and neck. The last...  
  
The last one had Takashi reaching into his pack for a summoning scroll. He sliced his palm on his axe, dipped his fingers in the blood, and performed the seals.  
  
One swirl of ink and chakra smoke later, he was handing message tubes to a pair of large sparrowhawks. Each had a Suna _hitai-ate_ around their necks, the dark grey cloth blending in with their feathers. Both were fixing Takashi with hard, red-eyed stares.  
  
"Take this straight to the Kazekage," ordered Takashi to the first one. "He'll know what to do."  
  
The hawk bowed its head, then took off with the message.  
  
"You must go to Konoha," Takashi said to the other hawk, glancing at the bulletin board on the wall. A poster had been pinned to it with obvious care, but the bloodstains and the slashes through it marked it as an equal target of the attack as had the Suna operatives been.  
  
"Take this directly to the Hokage. She'll decide how to handle this."  
  
The remaining hawk took off, heading northeast towards the Fire Country and the Hidden Leaf.  
  
The last body had shaken Takashi more than anything else. The blood and death and destruction didn't bother him as much; he was a ninja of the Hidden Sand, and he was used to the hardships that came from the life of a shinobi.  
  
The third body, however, had died in excruciating pain. Its eyes were a pulpy mess, and thick streaks of blood had flowed out of its ears, nose, and mouth. It was very familiar; he had seen it himself when the Sand had allied with Orochimaru and his rogue village in his attack on Konohagakure. Many of the Sound ninja were able to use a sonic jutsu that ruptured vitals inside the heads of anyone caught in the way. Takashi had lost teammates because of an oto-nin with poor aim.  
  
Takashi glanced at the poster. As defaced as it was, it was still clear that it was for a concert being held in Kimura, the capital of the Fire Country. Koizumi Aika was on tour, and not even the _daimyo_ himself was going to miss a performance from the most famous opera singer of the decade. The destruction of the poster meant that either Koizumi or the _daimyo_ was their next target.  
  
The worst of it was that the last victim did not appear to die immediately from the wounds. The man had scrabbled something in the dirt, something that became garbled and trailed off as he had died from shock halfway through writing it. There was an arrow pointing to the tattered poster on the wall, supporting his theory of Orochimaru's next target.   
  
The rest of the scratches were mostly pained scrabblings in the dirt, but Takashi was able to make out a few words.  
  
 _Hands of blue_.  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
"Look, I just don't think I have the grasp of it yet."  
  
A squirrel froze, clinging to the side of the tree, waiting to see if there was danger or if it had passed. A kunai buried itself into the tree in front of it and it tore off in the opposite direction.  
  
"Kensuke, I _know_ you understand the theory behind it. There hasn't been a jutsu yet you haven't taken apart."  
  
Kensuke landed on a sturdy branch, reaching for his crossbow. "I understand it just fine, but I can't _make it work_. Knowing and doing are two different things." He pushed off from the branch in a rolling leap and fired twice at the targets that Hiroshi had set up.  
  
Both bolts missed. Kensuke growled, reloading his weapon as he landed. "Come on, Moriyama, I had you. No fair moving."  
  
Three sets of shoulders shrugged. "Come on, Kensuke, you should know better than that." Hiroshi dispelled his clones. "You know what Gendou-sensei would say."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Kensuke. He straightened up even further and affected a cold, calculating expression. "'Your opponents will not sit still and wait for you to aim properly, Inuzuka Kensuke. Anticipation is the key to precision.'"  
  
Hiroshi grinned and started heading back to the campsite. "That's a better impression than I could do."  
  
"No way, you've got all those ventriloquism genjutsu skills, you could totally do a better Gendou than me."  
  
The two of them walked silently through the trees. "Kensuke?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I don't have kage bunshin down yet either."  
  
" _What?_ "  
  
Hiroshi looked embarassed. "Those were just regular ones." He ruffled Kensuke's grey hair and dodged the retaliatory swipe that always came after. "Come on, you were working so hard, I had to try and mess with you."  
  
Kensuke grumbled.  
  
"Hold it."  
  
Kensuke looked up. "What?"  
  
"Perimeter traps. They've been disabled." Hiroshi crept forwards, pulling aside leaves and inspecting the disabled alarm. "We've been breached."  
  
Kensuke nodded and disappeared into the trees, readying his weapon as he went. He watched through the scope of his crossbow as Hiroshi disappeared under a genjutsu - anyone not familiar with the chuunin wouldn't have known enough to spot the extra bush that appeared near every tree on the way to the campsite.  
  
He watched as Hiroshi moved silently from bush to bush, until he reached the camoflaged tents and Kensuke's sleeping hound. There was nobody there.  
  
"Did you find him yet?" said a bored voice right next to him.  
  
Kensuke jumped slightly. He covered this move by twisting around, grabbing a weapon from his pouch, but in his shock and subsequent haste, his foot came down just an inch too far, where there was not a branch to support it.  
  
Minor discovery. Falling out of trees _hurts_.  
  
Kensuke had to give his teammate credit, though. Hiroshi was instantly at his side, kunai out and ready to damage   
  
Then he looked up. He sighed and put his weapons away.  
  
Kensuke looked up as well. On the branch that he had just fallen off of crouched a man with short, spiky grey hair, with a face mask and his hitai-ate pulled low over his left eye. He was holding a small orange book in his left hand; without taking his eye off it, he raised his right hand in greeting.  
  
"Yo."  
  
"Kakashi-san, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Reading, mostly," said Hatake Kakashi, completely engrossed in his book. "You wouldn't believe what Toshiro just said to Yume."  
  
The jounin flipped a page. "Also, Kensuke-kun, while taking a sniper role is advantageous in most situations, you still need to be aware of what's going on around you. Too much focus, and you're vulnerable to attack."  
  
"Or falling out of a tree, I gather," said Kensuke, rubbing his head as he sat up. "You here on business, or just to give me a concussion?"  
  
"I can't do both?" Kakashi put his book away and pulled out a red scroll. "The Hokage is calling you four back in for a new mission." He tossed the scroll to Hiroshi.  
  
Hiroshi caught the scroll and checked the chakra signature on the Hokage's seal. He nodded to Kensuke, then turned back towards Kakashi. "They get anything useful from our oto-nin friend?"  
  
Kakashi waved a hand dismissively. "They didn't say. I didn't ask. I'm taking over the rest of your patrol, so you can head back to Konoha at any time."  
  
Hiroshi nodded, stowing the scroll in a pouch and turning to leave. Kensuke followed suit.  
  
"Moriyama, before you go..."  
  
Hiroshi turned back to Kakashi, who had finally departed from his branch and was now walking on solid ground. "Yes?"  
  
"Gai was very impressed with your genjutsu. He said it was the best he had ever seen."  
  
Kensuke raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Is that what he said?" he asked, conveying with his tone that he really didn't believe a word of it.  
  
Kensuke couldn't tell, but he was certain that Kakashi was grimacing under his mask. "Actually, he said 'the determination of young Moriyama and the power of his youth and exuberance has demonstrated the heat of his burning fiery flames of fire' and so on." The jounin rolled his eye. "I stopped paying attention right around then, but it seemed very impressive."  
  
"And you wanted me to show you." Hiroshi had that gleam in his eye. Kensuke had spent enough time with Hiroshi over the past thirteen years to know that nothing good ever came of that look. He started edging away.  
  
Kakashi shrugged. "If you don't mind. We have so few genjutsu specialists these days, and I haven't seen Kurenai do anything new since Akatsuki visited."  
  
Hiroshi grinned. He flashed the now-familiar seals and touched his finger to his throat. "So serious all the time, my eternal rival! I will break through your cool exterior one of these days, or else I climb the Hokage Monument using nothing but my pinkies! And if I cannot do that, I will perform ten thousand sit-ups hanging upside-down at the waterfall at the Valley of the End!" He twitched his fingers, then gave one of Maito Gai's signature Nice Guy Poses, complete with twinkling smile.  
  
That gleam _had_ to be genjutsu. There was no alternate explanation for it.  
  
Kakashi winced. "Okay, okay, I get it. Turn it off."  
  
Hiroshi continued to grin nastily as he dispelled the genjutsu.  
  
"That right there is a powerful psychological weapon," Kakashi said, dryly. "You might want to consider sealing it and marking it Forbidden." He shuddered. "For the good of Konoha."  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
It was midnight when they arrived back at the village. Team Gendou's appointment with the Hokage would be taken care of first thing in the morning, they were assured at the administrative building. Since it didn't seem to be time-critical, they decided to relax at a quiet, grassy training area.  
  
"You know, we should probably at least try to get some sleep," Hotaru said, absent-mindedly spinning a kunai on her finger. "I know we've been on a rotating sleep schedule, but nothing says we have to be nocturnal at home."  
  
Neither Kensuke nor Hiroshi responded, prompting her to look up at what they were doing. Both of them were concentrating, and Hiroshi had managed to phase a kage bunshin into existence next to him.  
  
Kensuke glanced over and cursed. "Man, now I have to try extra hard to catch up."  
  
"You'll get it eventually," replied Hiroshi - Hotaru was pretty certain it was the real one, but she couldn't be entirely sure - as he continued to practice the motions. She couldn't blame him, even after succeeding; most tricky jutsu involved more than just one seal to focus, so the trick of this was to go _against_ previous training, which was harder than learning the skill in the first place.  
  
Hiroshi grinned at her, obviously catching the fact that she was watching him, and started waggling his eyebrows. Almost immediately, his clone started doing the same in synchronization.  
  
"Gods, now there's _two_ of them. Kensuke, hit him."  
  
The blow to the back of the head only seemed to encourage Hiroshi, however, and now the two of him were waggling their eyebrows off-rhythm from each other. It was giving her a headache to watch, it really was.  
  
He finally stopped and dismissed his clone when a shadowy mist started to swirl in front of them. Gendou stepped out of the gloom and gave his students a cursory nod.  
  
"What's the story?" asked Hiroshi, suddenly all business again.  
  
"The spy has given us all he is going to," said Gendou, removing his dark glasses. His good eye seemed to focus on something in the distance. "Ibiki-sensei and the Hokage are meeting in an hour to discuss what we have found out."  
  
"Don't worry," drawled a voice from outside the clearing. "You'll find out what it is in the morning." A woman in a burned and tattered kimono was walking towards them, mischief in her eyes.  
  
Hotaru grinned. "You came to see us, Ren?"  
  
"Just my husband," said Ren, winking conspiratorially. "You three are a bonus." Kurobana Ren glared at Hiroshi, and pointed her umbrella at him. "You, however, have some explaining to do."  
  
Hiroshi looked innocent. "Me? I was out in the forest for a week. What am I supposed to have done?"  
  
Ren growled. "Care to explain that little trick your sister was able to pull off?"  
  
Hiroshi blinked. The scrolls he had given his sister didn't have anything terribly dangerous she would have been able to perform until her chakra reserves and control had grown. Even the tamest Doton ninjutsu would have been months away from her grasp. "Why, what did she do?"  
  
"The little twit hit me with the most disturbing genjutsu I had ever seen." Ren shuddered. "It wasn't strong enough to make me believe what I was seeing, but just the sight of it distracted me long enough to almost take a strike from the Hyuuga."  
  
Hiroshi broke out into a huge grin. "I didn't know there was a Hyuuga on her team. That'll give her motivation to practice, sure enough." He frowned. "Which one was it? The giant lobster waterfall? The thing with the flying bison fighting a samurai lemur?"  
  
Ren's eyebrows twitched with each description. "No. It was the Teddy Bear Picnic. What kind of horrors are you unleashing, Moriyama?"  
  
The other chuunin struggled to keep straight faces. Even Gendou seemed to withdraw deeper into his tattered scarf.  
  
"It's a combination of her favorite stories as a kid and a lesson in psychological warfare," said Hiroshi. "Throwing out images that the opponent doesn't expect to see can distract for even just a moment, which gives her an opening to strike. It definitely helps that these are images that she's familiar with, since it adds extra details to the illusion with decidedly less effort."  
  
Hotaru noticed his grin operated independantly from his attitude; this was actually a serious explanation. That was Hiroshi all over, though; even when he's in shinobi mode, he'll lighten the mood somehow.  
  
Ren looked sour, but shrugged. "It's a valid tactic, I'll grant you, but if she hits me with it again, I'll have to retailiate. I hope you realize that."  
  
Hiroshi nodded. "I'm surprised she's come this far in learning the techniques I wrote down for her."  
  
"Hey, you know how girls are," said Ren, waggling her eyebrows. "Yukiko and Hanabi have a rivalry going right now."  
  
"Friendly, I hope."  
  
"Mostly. The Hyuuga is too proud to admit that 'a commoner' impressed her, and Yuki-chan likes pushing people's buttons. I think she takes after you." Ren stretched her arms. "Now, I don't know about you kids, but I'm going to commandeer my husband for the rest of the night. Go do whatever, we're busy now."  
  
The three chuunin watched them leave. "You heard the lady," said Kensuke, stifling a toothy yawn. "We'll be debriefed by Tsunade-hime in the morning. I'm out."  
  
Hotaru watched him leave, then turned to Hiroshi. "What do you say? Late night snack?"  
  
Hiroshi shook his head. "Kensuke's right. We should take it easy." He looked over at the darkened faces of the Hokage Monument to the north. "I have a feeling we'll need the rest."


End file.
